Braintree · Compare
Fern House Surgery vs Witham Health Centre
Two GP practices in the same primary care network, a short way apart. Side by side, with the margin of error on every figure.
Can the survey tell them apart?
Fern House Surgery and Witham Health Centre cannot be told apart on the Practice Grade. The likely ranges overlap, so the data does not show that one is ahead of the other, whatever the two numbers are.
Side by side
| Measure | Fern House SurgeryCM8 1BH | Witham Health CentreCM8 2UX |
|---|---|---|
| Practice Grade (the 2026 GP Patient Survey and NHS appointment and phone data) | ||
| Practice Grade | 65.9likely range 51.1 to 76.9107 survey answers | 64.9likely range 59.0 to 70.3115 survey answers |
| Label (against the England average) | Cannot be told apart from the England average | No label |
| Patients who describe the practice as good | 67.9%likely range 46.8% to 83.6%, 107 answers | 60.1%likely range 52.3% to 67.5%, 115 answers |
| Access (mean of the two below) | 61.0%likely range 57.5% to 64.3% | 76.0%likely range 68.3% to 81.3%Clearly higher |
| Appointments within two weeks of booking | 65.6%likely range 60.0% to 70.8%, 4,546 appointments | 85.5%likely range 77.8% to 90.8%, 1,721 appointmentsClearly higher |
| Calls answered by the practice | 56.2%likely range 52.1% to 60.3%, 11,677 calls | Not in the grade: no phone data |
| More survey questions (not part of the grade) | ||
| Getting through on the phone | 43.2%likely range 24.9% to 63.6%, 107 answers | 58.4%likely range 50.3% to 66.1%, 109 answers |
| Reception and admin team | 79.7%likely range 58.9% to 91.5%, 107 answers | 69.8%likely range 61.9% to 76.7%, 107 answers |
| Having a preferred professional | 43.7%likely range 25.4% to 64.0%, 108 answers | 29.4%likely range 22.8% to 37.0%, 114 answers |
| Seeing your preferred professional | 12.4%likely range 2.3% to 46.3%, 43 answers | 48.4%likely range 34.3% to 62.8%, 34 answers |
| Knowing the next step | 87.1%likely range 67.0% to 95.7%, 105 answers | 83.2%likely range 76.2% to 88.4%, 107 answers |
| Contacting the practice | 64.5%likely range 43.6% to 81.0%, 108 answers | 58.1%likely range 50.1% to 65.6%, 112 answers |
| Wait for an appointment | 54.8%likely range 34.0% to 74.1%, 99 answers | 73.9%likely range 66.0% to 80.5%, 102 answers |
| Being listened to | 75.1%likely range 53.9% to 88.6%, 106 answers | 69.7%likely range 61.8% to 76.6%, 107 answers |
| Care and concern | 76.0%likely range 54.9% to 89.1%, 107 answers | 69.1%likely range 61.2% to 76.0%, 108 answers |
| Confidence and trust | 81.3%likely range 60.7% to 92.4%, 108 answers | 77.8%likely range 70.4% to 83.7%, 110 answers |
| Involvement in decisions | 80.2%likely range 58.7% to 92.0%, 101 answers | 84.7%likely range 77.7% to 89.8%, 101 answers |
| Needs met | 85.9%likely range 65.8% to 95.1%, 107 answers | 89.4%likely range 83.4% to 93.5%, 107 answers |
| Vaccinations and screening (NHS England QOF, not part of the grade) | ||
| Babies at 8 months | 92.3%likely range 87.6% to 95.4%, 183 patients | 80.8%likely range 70.7% to 88.0%, 78 patients |
| Children at 18 months | 86.1%likely range 80.7% to 90.2%, 202 patients | 88.9%likely range 80.7% to 93.9%, 90 patients |
| Children at 5 years | 91.2%likely range 85.6% to 94.8%, 148 patients | 90.3%likely range 82.6% to 94.8%, 93 patients |
| Women aged 25 to 49 | 73.2%likely range 71.5% to 74.8%, 2,815 patients | 71.5%likely range 69.0% to 73.8%, 1,370 patients |
| Women aged 50 to 64 | 75.3%likely range 73.0% to 77.4%, 1,486 patients | 75.8%likely range 72.1% to 79.2%, 559 patients |
| Facts (NHS England, not part of the grade) | ||
| Registered patients | 17,215August 2026 | 7,166August 2026 |
| Primary care network | Maldon & Witham PCN | Maldon & Witham PCN |
| Phone | 01376 502108 | 01376 337272 |
| Friends and Family Test (its own feedback) | 91.3% good or very good240 answers, June 2026 | No results for June 2026 |
| Appointments (one month) | 6,610 in August 2026Same day 34.9%; face to face 68.4% | 2,230 in August 2026Same day 40.1%; face to face 87.7% |
| Antibiotic items per STAR-PU (one year) | 0.88England 0.74, April 2025 to March 2026 | 0.89England 0.74, April 2025 to March 2026 |
| GPs (full-time equivalent) | 6.5 qualified permanent7.3 including trainees and locums2,651 patients per permanent GP | 2.0 qualified permanent3.0 including trainees and locums3,631 patients per permanent GP |
| CQC rating (a separate source) | Good | Good |
“Clearly higher” appears only when a practice’s likely range lies wholly above every other practice’s here. When the ranges overlap, the survey cannot tell the practices apart and nobody is pointed out. A practice never gets a mark for being lower.
The Practice Grade weighs the survey and access, from NHS appointment and phone data; the other survey questions are from the 2026 GP Patient Survey. The facts are from NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and OHID, are not part of the grade, and are shown as each practice’s own record. NHS England advises against ranking practices on the Friends and Family Test or on appointment figures, and we point nothing out in the facts, vaccination or screening rows.
The full pages
Sources
- 2026 GP Patient Survey: https://www.gp-patient.co.uk/
- Contains information from NHS England, licenced under the current version of the Open Government Licence
- Contains information from the Care Quality Commission, licensed under the Open Government Licence. CQC must be acknowledged as the source of the data; CQC is not responsible for our analysis.
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Antibiotic prescribing: UK Health Security Agency and Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (Fingertips), from NHS Business Services Authority prescribing data.